Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Obama’s trip motivated by Beijing’s Africa ties

China, a
dominant power in Asian economy, has said that the just concluded President
Barack Obama’s visit to Africa was motivated by America’s concern over
Beijing’s expanding ties on the continent, ITRealms reports.

Beijing’s state media said America "obviously
lacks a consistent Africa policy” and sees China as a competitor rather than
designing “a constructive power to bring welfare to the land," ITRealms reports a recent publication in the
English-language Global
Times.

"The
U.S. used to be a dominant power in Africa, a change of position has touched
the nerves of the U.S," the report said.

According to Xinhua citing Les EchosFrance, the
United States’ $7 billion about N1.39 trillion Power Africa project to provide
50 million Africans with electricity had made little progress since it was unveiled
in June 2013.

But a senior
White House official, ITRealms learnt, said that
the United States is building on "decades of development
relationships" in Africa, where it has supported public health, food security
and, especially now, the empowerment of Africans to create their own growth,
their own job creation."As for the
United States' relationship with Africa, he said, "We're not just in it
for a set of natural resources; we're here to build African capacity. And that
type of partnership over the long run I think does distinguish the United
States. It's something that we bring uniquely to bear."

The Asian powerhouse, ITRealms
gathered, has doubled its financing commitments to Africa at each of the last
three forum meetings and it’s expected to bolster them with "another
impressive line of credit," according to a report from African Growth
Initiative, a project of the Brookings Institution in Washington. China's commitments
rose from $billion in 2006 to $10 billion about N1.98 trillion in 2009 and $20
billion about N3.97trillion in 2012. It extended its credit line to Africa by
another $10 billion last year.